Vascular Access Catheter Patents: Top Companies & Filing Trends 2026
- 32.7% of all 1,381 records sit with the five leading assignees, so freedom-to-operate work has to start with a small set of dense portfolios rather than a diffuse field.
- Filings ran 88 in 2021 down to 39 in 2024 a -56% swing over that span, before the count starts thinning out into the still-incomplete 2025-2026 publication window.
- A61M coverage sits at 51.2% of records while coatings under C09D hold just 3.8%, marking antimicrobial and surface-treatment claims as comparatively open ground.
Filing growth compares 2021 (88 records) with 2024 (39) — a three-year span. 2024 is the most recent year we treat as complete: publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so 2025 onwards are still filling in and any growth rate that ends there would understate the field. Top-5 share is the combined record count of the five largest assignees divided by all 1,381 records in scope (CR5), not by the ranked leaders only.
What this landscape covers
Vascular access catheter design spans the physical construction of peripherally inserted central catheters and related devices: catheter material selection, tip positioning, thrombus prevention, antimicrobial coatings, dwell duration management and securement hardware. This dataset pulls 1,381 published records filed or published between 2015 and mid-2026 that combine core device terms with at least one of these functional claim areas, giving a working view of where design effort has concentrated and where claim density is still thin.
The scope favours records that tie a physical catheter structure to a clinical performance problem — infection risk, clot formation, tip drift, or fixation to skin — rather than pure drug-delivery or unrelated diagnostic filings that happen to mention a catheter in passing.
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Filing trend and technology composition
Two views of the same 1,381 records: how filing activity has moved year over year, and how those records distribute across IPC subclasses. Because a single record can carry several IPC codes, the class shares sum to more than 100% of the record total.
Filing trend, 2017-2026
Annual filings rose to a peak of 113 in 2018, then eased through the early 2020s; the tracked span from 88 filings in 2021 to 39 in 2024 marks a -56% contraction. Publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the low counts shown for 2025 and 2026 reflect the reporting gap rather than a confirmed drop in filing activity.
Technology composition by IPC subclass
A61M (devices for body fluids) touches 51.2% of records and anchors the field, with A61B (diagnosis and surgery, 32.3%) and A61L (sterilising and disinfecting, 26.3%) forming the next tier. Smaller shares in A61N, C09D and A61P point to electrotherapy integration, coating chemistry and therapeutic-compound angles that are claimed far less densely.
Shares are the percentage of the 1,381 records in scope. A patent can carry several IPC classes, so the shares add up to more than 100%.
Go deeper on Vascular Access Catheter Design with Eureka
This page is one run against one query. Ask Eureka your own question about vascular access catheter design and every answer comes back with the patent numbers behind it.
Try EurekaMost-cited records and a representative filing
Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter Systems, Devices, And Methods Thereof For Pediatrics
The filing describes a catheterization system built around a catheter tube joined to an extension leg at a junction, with a securement device fitted around that junction to inhibit movement. A taper near the junction transitions the tube from a larger to a smaller outer diameter and wall thickness, a structural detail meant to prevent damage when the catheter is bent to secure it against a patient's arm.Filed by C. R. Bard, Inc., published 2017-11-16 as US20170326339A1.
| # | Publication no. | Patent title | Citations |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | US20140163664A1 | Integrated system for the ballistic and nonballistic infixion and retrieval of implants with or without drug … | 965 |
| 2 | US20100286791A1 | Integrated system for the ballistic and nonballistic infixion and retrieval of implants | 630 |
| 3 | US20190247050A1 | Integrated system for the infixion and retrieval of implants | 450 |
| 4 | US20090177090A1 | Endovascular devices and methods of use | 357 |
| 5 | US20070016068A1 | Ultrasound methods of positioning guided vascular access devices in the venous system | 302 |
| 6 | US6117163A | Catheter securement device | 257 |
| 7 | US20070016072A1 | Endovenous access and guidance system utilizing non-image based ultrasound | 232 |
| 8 | US20060036164A1 | Optically guided system for precise placement of a medical catheter in a patient | 197 |
| 9 | US20070202177A1 | Antimicrobial Compositions and Methods for Locking Catheters | 193 |
| 10 | US20040087877A1 | Catheter locator apparatus and method of use | 191 |
Citation counts inside a searched corpus tend to favour older filings that have had more time to accumulate citations, so treat this table as a map of influence rather than of current claim strength.
Each row carries its publication number; clicking a row searches Eureka by that number.
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Three patterns stand out once the assignee ranking, technology composition and citation data are read together.
The leading tier holds a real but not overwhelming share
The five leading assignees account for 451 of the 1,381 records in scope, and the top ten extend that to 45.2% (624 records). That leaves more than half the field to the remaining ranked companies plus a long tail of single- or few-filing entrants, so a freedom-to-operate search cannot stop at the largest names.
Coating and surface-treatment claims are comparatively sparse
A61M coverage for body-fluid devices dominates at 51.2% of records, while C09D coatings sit at only 3.8% and A61P therapeutic-activity claims at 2.5%. Antimicrobial and surface-chemistry approaches to catheter design are documented far less densely than the mechanical and sterilising branches.
Activity has pulled back from its post-2018 pace
Filings peaked at 113 in 2018 and ran at 88 in 2021 before falling to 39 by 2024, a -56% contraction over that three-year window. The most recent years in the trend are still filling in as publications catch up, so this reading should be anchored to 2024 and earlier rather than to the partial 2025-2026 counts.
A small inventor network drives a slice of joint filings
Ten co-assignee pairings appear in the data, with the strongest pairing linked across 33 shared records and two others at 24 each. This points to a compact group of collaborating inventors rather than broad cross-company joint filing across the field.
Eureka can read the same corpus for gaps instead of for coverage: under-claimed branches adjacent to vascular access catheter design, with the prior art for and against each one.
Who holds the claim space, and where it thins out
The ranked assignee list covers 100 companies drawn from the 1,381 records in scope. Reading it alongside the momentum figures shows both where filing has concentrated historically and where it has gone quiet in the most recent tracked year.
One assignee sits well ahead of the field
The top-ranked assignee holds 138 records, well clear of the fifth-place figure of 44 and the tenth-place figure of 30. That gap suggests an entrenched core portfolio built over years rather than a recent surge.
The drop-off past the leader is gradual, not a cliff
Fifth place holds 44 records and tenth place holds 30, a moderate step down rather than a sharp fall. That gradual slope is typical of a field with several established device makers rather than a single dominant player and undifferentiated followers.
Several of the largest historical filers show no output in the latest tracked year
A number of the top assignees, including large historical filers, register zero filings in the most recent year with a -100% year-on-year change. Given the roughly 18-month publication lag, this likely reflects incomplete reporting for the newest filings rather than a confirmed exit from the field.
| Assignee | Recent year | YoY |
|---|---|---|
| Becton, Dickinson and Company | 0 | -100% |
| Bard Access Systems, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| C. R. Bard, Inc. | 0 | -100% |
| Semprus BioSciences Corp. | 0 | — |
| CardioNomic, Inc. | 0 | — |
| ZHANG ZHENG | 0 | — |
| LOOSE CHRISTOPHER R | 0 | — |
| Medline Industries, Inc. | 0 | — |
Where to take this next
The landscape points to specific next steps depending on whether the goal is freedom-to-operate, portfolio positioning, or spotting an entry point.
Run a freedom-to-operate check against the concentrated tier
With 45.2% of records held by the top ten ranked assignees, any new filing in catheter tube construction, securement or tip design should be checked against those portfolios first before broader searching.
Explore assignee portfolios in EurekaProbe the under-claimed coating and sensing branches
C09D coatings and A61N electrotherapy integration sit at single-digit shares of the record total, which is worth investigating further before assuming the space is crowded.
Map white space in EurekaTrack the post-2024 filing gap as it fills in
The 2025-2026 counts are still incomplete due to publication lag; revisiting the trend once those years mature will clarify whether the 2021-2024 pullback continued or reversed.
Set a filing alert in EurekaCommon questions on this landscape
The dataset's ranked assignee list identifies one company clearly ahead of the field, with 138 records against 44 for the fifth-place assignee and 30 for tenth place. Together the five leading assignees hold 32.7% of all 1,381 records in scope, and the top ten hold 45.2%. That leaves a substantial share of the field to the remaining 90 ranked companies and to entrants with only a handful of filings each, so the leader board is informative but not the whole competitive picture.
Filings peaked at 113 in 2018 and had fallen to 39 by 2024, with the tracked 2021-to-2024 span showing a -56% change. That said, publication lags filing by roughly 18 months, so the very low counts recorded for 2025 and 2026 reflect the reporting gap rather than a confirmed slowdown. The reliable read on direction stops at 2024; anything drawn from the last one to two years should be treated as provisional.
Devices for body fluids (IPC A61M) appear in 51.2% of the 1,381 records, making it the dominant category, followed by diagnosis and surgery (A61B) at 32.3% and sterilising and disinfecting (A61L) at 26.3%. Because a single record can carry multiple IPC codes, these shares add up to more than 100% of the record total, which is expected and simply reflects overlapping claims. Smaller categories such as coatings (C09D, 3.8%) and therapeutic activity (A61P, 2.5%) are claimed far less densely.
The technology composition data points to antimicrobial and surface-coating approaches (C09D at 3.8% of records) and therapeutic-compound integration (A61P at 2.5%) as comparatively under-claimed relative to the core mechanical and sterilising categories. Electrotherapy-integrated designs (A61N, 6.3%) also sit well below the dominant A61M share. These lower shares do not guarantee an easy filing, but they do mark branches worth a closer novelty search before assuming the space is saturated.
US20170326339A1, filed by C. R. Bard, Inc. and published in November 2017, describes a peripherally inserted central catheter system with a tapered catheter tube joined to an extension leg at a junction, plus a securement device fitted around that junction to inhibit movement. The taper and adjusted wall thickness near the junction are designed to prevent damage when the catheter is bent during securement to a patient's arm. Anyone designing a PICC junction, taper profile or securement fitting should review this filing closely, since it sits within one of the field's most active assignee portfolios.
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Disclaimer. This page is generated from Patsnap Eureka data drawn from a limited snapshot of global patent and scientific-literature records, and is provided for general information and reference only.
Patent data carries inherent limitations: recent filings (typically the most recent 18–24 months) are under-counted due to standard publication lag; counts may be reported at either a patent-family or a patent-record basis and are not always directly comparable; classification, applicant-name, and citation data may contain errors, duplicates, or omissions; and the underlying search query defines and constrains the scope shown. As a result, the analysis may be incomplete or inaccurate and may not reflect the full technology landscape.
Nothing on this page constitutes an exhaustive prior-art, novelty, freedom-to-operate, or validity search, nor does it constitute legal, financial, investment, or professional advice, and it should not be relied upon as such. Any patent, commercial, or strategic decision should be verified independently and reviewed with qualified patent, legal, and domain professionals. Patsnap makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the accuracy, completeness, or fitness for any particular purpose of the information presented.
Machine translation. Assignee and organisation names originally recorded in Chinese, Japanese or Korean have been rendered into English by an AI translation step so that the tables stay readable. These renderings are best-effort and may not match a company’s registered English name; the original name is what the underlying patent record carries, and it is what any Eureka query launched from this page uses.